Henley Passport Index, widely acknowledged as the original and most authoritative passport index, with historical data spanning 13 years, announced the world’s most powerful passports in 2018.

Germany holds on to 1st place for the fifth year running, with its citizens enjoying visa-free access to 177 countries in total, up from 176 countries in 2017.

Singapore ranks 2nd globally on the 2018 edition of the index, with visa-free access to 176 countries, while eight countries — Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden, and the UK — share 3rd place, offering passport-holders access to 175 countries. Ranking jointly 4th on the index, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Spain all provide visa-free access to 174 countries.

The US is among the countries holding 5th place on the 2018 edition of the index, improving its visa-free score from 172 in 2017 to 173 in 2018. The Russian Federation, meanwhile, climbed three places to 48th position. China has shown the most growth in North Asia over the past year, moving up 10 places compared to 2017 and now ranking 75th globally.

Ukraine (44th) and Georgia (53rd) are the highest climbers on the index, moving up by 15 and 14 ranks, respectively, following their recent visa liberalization with the EU.

Turkey ranked 50th.

World’s Top 20 most powerful passports in 2018